Mental Skills Tennis

As a sports psychologist who works with many tennis players and golfers in Boca Raton, Florida, I see and hear of lots of devices and strategies designed to improve performance. Typically advertisers find a well known celebrity or top athlete to promote their product to suggest it is the product that has helped them achieve their success and if you use the product it will help you as well!

As tennis champion Novak Djokovic has stormed into the spotlight; he is the latest to be drawn into the peak performance spot light. Last month, the attention was focused on his “secret gluten free diet”. This month the headlines in the Wall Street Journal is, “Novak Djokovic’s Secret: Sitting in a Pressured Egg”. 

A company who sells the product for a smooth $75,000 claims that spending up to 20 minutes in the pod three times a week can boost athletic performance by improving circulation, boosting oxygen-rich red blood cells, removing lactic acid and other potential benefits. Djokovic gets to use the device for free and the company gets to use his quote, “I think it really helps – not with muscle but more with recovery after an exhausting set”. 

A lot of the same claims can be made by having a massage – for around $75.

The Women’s World Cup match up between Japan and the United States turned out to be a real “nail biter” and a test for mental skills and mental toughness as well as the physical skill, technique and strategy. The U.S. had long dominated Japan in previous match ups and was the heavy favorite to win. In fact, they took most of the shots and controlled play for much of the first half, creating many opportunities but failing to connect.  In a game where  the U.S. was leading during much of it, Japan fought back and tied the score in the regular game and then again with only four minutes remaining in the overtime. In the shootout, it was Japan’s goalkeeper who blocked 2 U.S. kicks and perhaps a U.S. player who may have choked by sending what should have been an easy goal, a dozen feet above the goal bar that made the difference in Japan’s winning effort. 

Winning in sports and in life, is trying your hardest and never giving up until the very end. It is holding out hope and playing with uncertainty. In sports psychology, we teach persistence, tenacity and recovering from adversity. This game was a testimony to those skills and ideals. Both teams have much to feel proud about.

Have you ever been losing badly in a game or tennis match and thought you had no chance of coming back or winning? Chances are, you ended up losing. Why? Perhaps because your opponent was playing much better or you were performing below what you normally do. But more likely, you insured your loss by your strong belief that you would lose. It’s a self fulfilling prophecy. Because you no longer believe you can win, you start slacking off which allows your opponent to finish you off without trying too hard. 

In the 2011 Wimbledon tennis quarter finals match, it would have been easy for the under-dog, Jo Wilfred Tsonga, to think that he was done, and give up or at least let down. You see, he was down 2 sets to love against one of the best players, not only in the world, but perhaps one of the best players of all time, the great Rodger Federer. In fact, when Federer was ahead two sets to love in each of his prior 78 matches, he had always won. The odds of Tsonga winning that match was slim to none. However, someone forgot to remind Tsonga because he just stuck in there, raised his game and ended up winning the next 3 sets to win the match! 

Bottom line, play hard, play your game and play until the last second or last point.

A positive belief in yourself and your abilities can often improve your chances of success in almost every situation both  in sports and in life! 

Most athletes can learn to improve their confidence, improve their ability to come back from behind and play tougher under pressure. 

A mental conditioning training program program like Dr. Robert Heller’s TENNISNISMIND,(www.mentalskillstennis.com) provides relaxation exercises to calm the body and specific affirmations to train the mind to automatically respond to challenges in positive ways.

A tennis teaching professional, Mike Dumitru, from Boca Raton, Florida wrote an excellent article, “Do’s and Don’ts for Tennis Parents, which appeared in Florida Tennis magazine. As a sports psychology consultant who works a lot with high performance kids and parents, I found a lot of good suggestions were included in this piece. 

I think for the parents who are unsure of how to best help and guide their children, this article offers good and thoughtful ideas. It will however, do little for those parents who feel very sure that their way of interacting is perfectly fine, even when it may be hurtful, even harmful at times. When I come in contact with these parents (and sadly, sometimes coaches), I work with the kids to view them as distractions or obstacles that need to be dealt with. 

It’s also important to remember that parents sometimes err in the opposite direction of not being available or supportive of their child’s sport of choice. For example, the father who wants his son to play football, rather than tennis or the mother who never attends any of the child’s matches either due to lack of interest, work or other reasons. 

While tennis provides opportunities to learn and develop many important mental and physical skills, as an individual sport, it lacks many of the social and cooperative skills (cooperative effort towards a common goal ) teamwork, communication, helping others succeed) that group sports provide. Parents can help and encourage kids, (especially young ones) to cross train and develop their skills and interests in several sports. Most kids below the age of 12, don’t really know what they like or excel at. Giving a kid a  choice along with opportunities to explore their interests is another “gift” parents can give.

Perhaps one of the most famous and best known tennis coaches wrote an article entitled, “Go for Every Ball No Matter Where it Lands”. He quoted the advice that Richard Williams, father of tennis greats, Venus and Serena, had imparted to them at an early age.

As a sports psychologist I am trained to look at advice in a systematic way: What works best for which person in which situation, under what circumstances? 

The benefits of going for every ball even the ones that are very far out is that you may actually get some of them that both you and your opponent felt were impossible. It can build your confidence, speed, anticipation etc. It also sends a message to your opponent that they can’t let up or assume they have hit a winner. By going for everything, you may put pressure on some opponents to try and hit better shots which may result in them making more mistakes. 

The risks of going for every ball, even the ones that are clearly way out of reach and those that are far out of the court are that you may get injured by being over stretched or hitting a ball from a very awkward position. You may also tire yourself out, especially if it is a hot day and/or you a playing a long match or matches. In these cases, you are likely to make any number of “fatigue” errors that outweigh the benefits of running down EVERY ball. 

 A smart player needs to balance risk/reward in running for shots and learn  how to play efficiently. For example, if you are ahead 5-0, 40 love, NOT risking running into a fence to retrieve a great top spin lob your opponent just hit over your head might be a good mental strategy at that time! 

The take away is, “no one size fits all”. Think of advice in a “general “ way and apply it to your needs and situation.

That was the recent headline in the Wall Street Journal, referring to tennis star, Novak Djokovic after his win over Rafael Nadal and getting closer to becoming the number one tennis player in the world. Known for his good humor, athletic ability and mental fortitude, he is still considered an improbable champion. Coming from the small country of Serbia, with its poverty, years of the stress of war, lack of tennis courts and training facilities, how is it that Novak and other Serbian players are making such an impact on the game of tennis?  As a tennis psychologist, I could guess that his innate talent and strong desire to escape a poor, war torn country  kept him highly focused and motivated to maximize his physical gifts. Perhaps it’s his national pride or lack of pressure from parents? Perhaps it is the love and joy for the game? For me and other sports psychologists working with athletes on peak performance, we believe it’s what is between the ears that matters the most:  Mental skills and mental coaching combined with a personality that is both laid back and intense at just the right times.

Let’s see if Novak can rise to the top and how long he can stay there.

“Anger” is a powerful emotion which, when channeled properly can motivate and inspire us to do heroic things, perform at our best and even push us to do more than we ever thought possible. Sadly, especially in sports, anger is “mismanaged” and “unregulated” resulting in unpleasantness not only for the angry person but for all those exposed to him or her.

Since we all learn, to some extent by watching others and give extra attention to those who are famous or excel in sports, these “celebrities” can exert strong influence on our own reactions to adverse situation. Fortunately, we can use their occasional “bad displays” of behavior to take a different path when faced with similar circumstances and frustrations.

Recently, I was watching a tennis match between tennis legend and former world champion, John McEnroe. He was getting killed by an opponent and rather than give credit to the excellent play of his opponent or accept his own occasional lapses in performance, in typical McEnroe style, he would find fault with the calls, intimidate the lines people and even yell and scream at the chair umpire. Upon hitting a double fault (totally his own fault), he would then whack a ball into the stadium.

Such outrageous behavior is totally against the rules of the game and the umpire should have penalized him. McEnroe does this to try to pump himself up, distract his opponent, and intimidate the officials so he can perhaps get a favorable call or two later on. I believe some of it is just a conditioned reaction to his intolerance for others and his intensely self-critical nature.

As we watch this behavior unfold a good take away would be to feel sorry for McEnroe. How sad it must be to have such little control over his emotions and to go through life living at the edge of an explosion. How embarrassing it must be to his friends and family to see the whining, complaining and cry baby behaviors of a grown adult unfold in public before an audience of millions.

Whenever you witness this type of anger problem in someone, let it be a trigger for you to say to yourself, “That’s bad. I don’t want to ever behave that way.” “I’m in control of my emotions.” “I will find a better way to handle my frustrations and disappointments.”

In my role as a sports psychologist, I teach my clients these and other tools from cognitive therapy help them more effective “manage their emotions”, “tame their anger”

Self deception is a form of rationalization. It is an attempt to help you avoid facing or dealing with the truth, which can be difficult to accept at times. The teacher tells the student to “sit down”. The student complies but says to himself, “I was tired of standing up anyway”. 

As a sports psychologist I often work with young athletes and their parents. Recently, I evaluated a young tennis player who wasn’t performing to her abilities and had been underperforming for some time. We identified a number of factors that were inhibiting her performance. Rather than accepting the evaluation and help to directly improve the situation, the parent and youngster interpreted the problems as “normal” and to wait and see if she would mature and grow out of it. If she was having a problem with her forehand and a pro recommended a change, would she accept the fact and do the work or wait for improvement to occur on its own? 

Self-deception and rationalization is also alive and well in the professional ranks as well.

A top player on the women’s tennis tour, was well known for losing her temper during matches and losing matches as a result!  As she was being interviewed, there were clips of her exploding and losing it in various matches as she was explaining that she is an “emotional” player and needs to express her emotions to play better. 

The truth is most individuals still have a hard time accepting the fact that their mental and emotional state often times interfere with their performing at their best and only by working and training on specific mind-body skills can they hope to consistently perform at their best. 

I once heard, “it is not practice that makes perfect, but practicing more perfectly that does.” 

I welcome your thoughts and comments. Send them to Dr.Robert Heller at info@robertheller.net.  If  you are living or traveling to S. Florida, I am located in Boca Raton and would be happy to work with you on developing your mental toughness skills.

Psychology for tennis has gone mainstream. At the 2011 Australian Tennis Open, one of the major commercials from a tennis racket company features a tennis player getting upset on the court. Serena Williams plays the role of the sports psychologist! As a couch is rolled onto the court, the upset player lies down and is encouraged to talk about her feelings. Feelings transitions into “feel” which them moves into the theme of the commercial which is selling the racket that has greater feel to it. The player than smiles and comments on how this may give her an unfair advantage and “therapist” Williams assures her that she will get over it. 

Sports psychology has gone mainstream with commentators frequently referring to players nerves, ability to play under pressure, coping with choking and related mental and emotional aspects of competition. 

I personally consult with several tennis academies in Boca Raton, Florida and other academies have “mental coaches” on board as part of their professional staff. 

It won’t be long before sports psychologists are sitting in the boxes at the Majors alongside the player’s coach and fitness trainer! 

To learn more about how sports psychologists work with players, coaches and parents, check out the other blogs and articles on my website, www.mentalskillstennis.com

Match the quote with the tennis champion who said it:

1.Tennis is 90% mental.

2.It’s not whether or not you choke, but when you do how you respond.

3.I never looked back or dwelled on my defeats. I always looked forward.

4.The softer the hands the better the player.

5.The most important point in any tennis match is always- the next one.

A. Martina Navratolova B. Chris Evert C. John McEnroe D. Jimmy Connors E. Andre Agassi

To improve your mental game, reflect on what these quotes really mean and how you might apply them to yourself. Recognize that mental skills, just like physical ones need to be practiced many times in gradually more challenging settings to become natural, automatic and effective. As you develop your “outer game”-strokes, strategy, conditioning, leave time to work on your “inner game” – beliefs, attitudes, body language, thoughts, feelings and behaviors.

Answers: 1.D 2.C 3.B 4.A 5.E